Notebook: Gymnastics ready for NCAAs

By Edward AschoffCorrespondent

Tuesday

Mar 31, 2009 at 11:01 PM

The sixth-ranked Florida gymnastics team travels to Iowa City, Iowa, as the top seed in the NCAA North Central Region on Saturday, feeding off a ton of confidence from the Southeastern Conference championships last month.

The sixth-ranked Florida gymnastics team travels to Iowa City, Iowa, as the top seed in the NCAA North Central Region on Saturday, feeding off a ton of confidence from the Southeastern Conference championships last month.Though the Gators finished third with a score of 196.75 two weeks ago in Nashville, Tenn., coach Rhonda Faehn said at Tuesday’s All-Sports news conference that the layoff has helped her team not only heal, but gain a new mental edge.“It’s an awesome feeling for the athletes,” Faehn said. “It gives them a chance to really recover and let their mind rest. All season long, every weekend, they’ve had to be up and this is the first time that they’ve actually had a chance to rest a little bit.”The Gators enter Saturday with two key components back up to speed. Faehn said senior Corey Hartung is in full health after suffering a tear in her left calf a few weeks ago. Sophomore Alicia Goodwin will also be back on both bars and beam this weekend.After struggling a bit toward the end of the season, everything seems to be falling in place for the Gators at the right time. The team is healthier and confident, but Faehn said her athletes aren’t letting that get to their heads.“You can never step into a regional championship thinking that you’ve got it in the bag,” she said. “We have to go in and do our job. We have to go in and do exactly what we did all season long.”When the Gators make it to Iowa City, they will meet one of their biggest non-conference rivals and Faehn’s alma mater in No. 8 UCLA. The schools will compete against each other for the third time in the last four years as a region’s top-two seeded teams.“I actually really enjoy (competing against UCLA) because it’s a very healthy rivalry,” Faehn said. “Of course, we want to win, as I’m sure they do.“We’re both classy programs and it’s going to be very exciting.”

Florida RelaysAfter weather delayed or canceled most of the track team’s events at the Florida State Relays last week, the Gators return to compete in the annual Florida Relays at Percy Beard Track on Friday and Saturday.Coach Mike Holloway, who has attended the relays each year since 1978, expects this year’s event to be one of the top in the Southeast.“You’re going to see an unbelievable amount of talent,” he said, “Whether it be high schoolers, colleges, open athletes, it’s always a great event and kind of the kickoff of the outdoor season here in the South.”Holloway said he’s mainly looking for improvement out of his group in order to prepare for the postseason, but also wants to impress the home crowd.“Anytime we have a chance to compete in front of the Gator fans, we want to make sure we put on a good show,” he said. “We’re always going to take care of the Gators when we’re here in town.”